`code` launched from WSL2 console returns an error since today

[mulkers]

Type: Bug

Hi,
Using code in WSL2 since 18 months.
Today it didn't started. Error is the following:

node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1411
  throw err;
  ^

Error: Cannot find module 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\resources\app\out\cli.js'
    at Module._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1408:15)
    at defaultResolveImpl (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1064:19)
    at resolveForCJSWithHooks (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1069:22)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1218:37)
    at c._load (node:electron/js2c/node_init:2:17950)
    at TracingChannel.traceSync (node:diagnostics_channel:322:14)
    at wrapModuleLoad (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:242:24)
    at Module.executeUserEntryPoint [as runMain] (node:internal/modules/run_main:185:5)
    at node:internal/main/run_main_module:36:49 {
  code: 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND',
  requireStack: []
}

Node.js v22.15.1

Surprisingly, code.cmd launched from the windows host terminal works and can connect to the WSL guest.
So I assume this is a bug in the "code" binary that is used from the WSL guest but deployed on the Windows host C:/Program Files/Microsoft VS Code/bin/code

robin:/home/robin$ whereis code
code: /mnt/c/Program Files/Microsoft VS Code/bin/code /mnt/c/Users/rmu/AppData/Local/Programs/Microsoft VS Code/bin/code

Version is:

Version: 1.101.1 (user setup)
Commit: 18e3a1ec544e6907be1e944a94c496e302073435
Date: 2025-06-18T13:35:12.605Z
Electron: 35.5.1
ElectronBuildId: 11727614
Chromium: 134.0.6998.205
Node.js: 22.15.1
V8: 13.4.114.21-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22631```

VS Code version: Code 1.101.1 (18e3a1ec544e6907be1e944a94c496e302073435, 2025-06-18T13:35:12.605Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22631
Modes:
Remote OS version: Linux x64 6.6.87.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2

<details>
<summary>System Info</summary>

|Item|Value|
|---|---|
|CPUs|13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-13700H (20 x 2918)|
|GPU Status|2d_canvas: enabled<br>canvas_oop_rasterization: enabled_on<br>direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok<br>gpu_compositing: enabled<br>multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on<br>opengl: enabled_on<br>rasterization: enabled<br>raw_draw: disabled_off_ok<br>skia_graphite: disabled_off<br>video_decode: enabled<br>video_encode: enabled<br>vulkan: disabled_off<br>webgl: enabled<br>webgl2: enabled<br>webgpu: enabled<br>webnn: disabled_off|
|Load (avg)|undefined|
|Memory (System)|31.64GB (14.12GB free)|
|Process Argv|--crash-reporter-id 2b2fecd1-1098-4235-82ef-d0a54fa5560c|
|Screen Reader|no|
|VM|0%|

|Item|Value|
|---|---|
|Remote|WSL: Ubuntu-22.04|
|OS|Linux x64 6.6.87.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2|
|CPUs|13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-13700H (20 x 0)|
|Memory (System)|15.44GB (12.43GB free)|
|VM|0%|
</details><details><summary>Extensions (22)</summary>

Extension|Author (truncated)|Version
---|---|---
remotehub|Git|0.64.0
vscode-pyproject-toml-snippets|kam|0.1.0
vscode-azurevirtualmachines|ms-|0.6.9
jupyter-keymap|ms-|1.1.2
remote-containers|ms-|0.417.0
remote-ssh|ms-|0.120.0
remote-ssh-edit|ms-|0.87.0
remote-wsl|ms-|0.99.0
vscode-remote-extensionpack|ms-|0.26.0
azure-repos|ms-|0.40.0
remote-explorer|ms-|0.5.0
remote-repositories|ms-|0.42.0
remote-server|ms-|1.5.2
excalidraw-editor-cj|tel|3.4.6
gitlens|eam|17.2.0
copilot|Git|1.336.0
copilot-chat|Git|0.28.1
vscode-azureresourcegroups|ms-|0.10.13
vscode-containers|ms-|2.0.3
debugpy|ms-|2025.8.0
python|ms-|2025.8.0
vscode-pylance|ms-|2025.6.1


</details><details>
<summary>A/B Experiments</summary>

```
vsliv368:30146709
vspor879:30202332
vspor708:30202333
vspor363:30204092
vscod805:30301674
binariesv615:30325510
c4g48928:30535728
azure-dev_surveyone:30548225
2i9eh265:30646982
962ge761:30959799
h48ei257:31000450
pythontbext0:30879054
cppperfnew:31000557
dwnewjupyter:31046869
pythonrstrctxt:31112756
nativeloc1:31192215
5fd0e150:31155592
dwcopilot:31170013
6074i472:31201624
dwoutputs:31242946
customenabled:31248079
hdaa2157:31222309
copilot_t_ci:31222730
e5gg6876:31282496
pythoneinst12:31285622
bgtreat:31268568
4gafe986:31271826
c7cif404:31314491
5b33h341:31326279
pythonpulldiagcf:31325931
996jf627:31283433
pythonrdcb7cf:31303019
usemplatestapi:31297334
0aa6g176:31307128
7bj51361:31289155
747dc170:31275177
aj953862:31281341
generatesymbolt:31295002
convertfstringf:31295003
convertlamdat:31329272
jhi8h917:31332231
d7aab740:31332224
usemarketplace:31331644
nesew5to5:31330644
b6b4d950:31327385
048e0538:31329543

```

</details>

<!-- generated by issue reporter -->

[mulkers]

Also worth to mention maybe that the file C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\resources\app\out\cli.js and its parent folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\resources\app\out\ are nowhere to be found in the host

[aeschli]

Looking at what whereis returns, it seems you have two installations of VS Code on the PATH:
c:/Program Files/Microsoft VS Code/bin/code
c/Users/rmu/AppData/Local/Programs/Microsoft VS Code/bin/code

Maybe the first one only got partially uninstalled?

[mulkers]

Hi Martin, thank you for your help. I think one installation was for the whole system and the other just for one user. Nevermind, the issue disappeared. I think there was an update which resolved the issue. I am closing this issue. Thanks for your support ;-)